Judges 13:24-14:14.  Yesterday we were introduced to a couple who had no child.  God told them they were going to have a son and that he needed to be dedicated to God from his conception.  he was to follow the Nazarite rules of dedication (Numbers 6:1-21) his whole life.  Even mom had to follow the rules while she was pregnant.  We also learned yesterday that the Israelite people had been living under the control of the Philistines for 40 years.  The Philistines were a neighboring tribe that mostly lived on the lowlands near the Mediterranean Sea.  The interesting thing is that the Israelites had not begged God to save them from Philistine rule.  Today we will see that they had become very comfortable with sharing the promised land.

So the baby arrives, is given the name Samson (which means “Like the sun”.  Check out the “What’s in a Name” page), and grows up.  And God was looking after him. 16 years give or take and we are only one verse into the reading.  He was born and grew up in and around a town called Zorah.  Verses 25 tells us that he was in “the camp of Dan” (Mahaneh-Dan) between Zorah and Eshtaol (Dan is the name of the tribe Samson was part of. See “The Twelve?”).

Israel is kind of like Southern California.  There is a wide low area or plain near the coast.  The central part of Israel contains hills and mountains that reach heights of 3000-4000 feet.  (Mount Baldy in the San Gabriel Mountains is over 10,000 feet and Saddleback Mountain is about 5700 feet).  East of the central mountains is a huge gash in the Earths surface called the Rift Valley.  It contains the lowest land elevation on the planet, the Dead Sea.  The Jordan River runs down the Rift Valley.  Eshtaol and Zorah were neighboring towns about 5 miles up in the hills and about 22 miles from the Mediterranean Sea. They were about 12 miles west of Jerusalem.

It seems kind of interesting that in Judges 13:1 that the parents are from the town of Zorah but now in verse 25 we find Samson living in “the camp of Dan” between the two towns.  The lifestyle of most Israelites in those days would have been rural, most of them would have been farmers and had flocks or herds.  The fact that Samson does not live in town indicates to me that he was a country boy.  “Like the sun” with hair that many women would die for, and stuck on the farm.

Verse 25 is a little troubling because it says the “Spirit of the Lord began to stir him” while he was there on the farm.  It’s troubling because of where the story goes next.  Sampson went down to the plain to a town called Timnah and was checking out the girls.  It was clearly a Philistine settlement and he saw a Philistine girl that he just had to have.  The Old Testament is crystal clear that the Israelites were not to marry the inhabitants when they took over the promised land (Deuteronomy 7:1-4).  They were to get rid of them. Next he went home and basically ordered his parent to get her for him.  It looks like they might have known the verses from Deuteronomy because they encourage him to get a wife from his relatives but he refused.  Another violation of God’s commandments (Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 5:16).  So they went to Timnah and arranged a marriage between the two.  It’s troubling to think that God would “stir” Samson to do things that He had said not to do.  Judges 14:4 even kind of repeats the thought.  So why is this all a problem?  God is God and can do whatever He wants to can’t He?  Well, No.  “Argggggg!  Myron’s going crazy saying God is not sovereign,”  you might say.  No God is in complete control, but He even controls Himself.

2 Timothy 2:13 says that God cannot deny Himself.  He has certain characteristics that will never change.  That passage in 2 Timothy lists one of them, faithfulness.  Important for what we are reading today is James 1:13-15.  That verse tells us that God is not tempted by sin and he does not try to get other to sin either.   You might ask, “What about Pharaoh?  Didn’t God make his heart hard so he would not let the people go?”  Well it does say that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.  But what does that mean and how did he do it?  I have five children and sometimes I had to discipline them when they were growing up.  They didn’t always respond well to the discipline.  Sometimes they would continue to do what ever I was trying to get them to stop doing and would get very angry on top of it.  then they would tell me I was , “Provoking them to wrath” (See Ephesians 6:4).  Was their rebellion my fault?  No. Was their anger my fault?  Sort of but not really.  As a parent I am supposed to help my children grow up and become mature.  I also have to keep them in control.  If they are completely set on doing something that I think they shouldn’t then there is going to be trouble.  In a sense they are becoming hardened and in a way it’s my fault for not giving in.  But if I’m going to be a good parent and I cannot give in to certain things.  God was not going to give in to Pharaoh.  The Israelites had to leave and so Pharaoh became more and more stubborn, his heart was hardened.  In reality though it was really the fault of my children (if I was right in what I was doing) and in Pharaoh’s case it was his fault, because God is alway right in what He does.  It goes back to the idea of God being like a master chess player from a couple of posts back.  No matter what move we make God will bring the game back to get what he wants done done.  So God is masterfully powerful and completely in control even though he has given us real choices.

Judges 14:4 tells us just what God was doing too.  God was creating a situation where the Israelites had to do what it was they were supposed to be doing, getting rid of the Philistines.  And he was using Samson’s sinful moves to get the job done.  They were still Samson’s moves, God was just way ahead of him.  In the rest of todays reading we see Samson breaking one of the conditions of his vow.  Remember that a Nazirtite could not touch anything dead.  But he does that and worse when he returns to the dead lion and eats honey from a comb inside of the lion.  Yuck.

It’s good to know that, no matter what we do, we cannot out play God.  God’s will will be done.  The question is are you on his side.  Because there are consequences if you are not.  Pharaoh paid, Samson will pay, my children paid, and I pay when I disobey God.  We need to be careful to look at all of the Bible and find out what God is doing and join Him.  Lord help me join you.  Help me understand the love letter you have written to me and see what good things you are doing.  Let me see what you have provided here and now for me and be satisfied.  Keep me from wandering into the enemies camp.  Help me not want what the enemy has to offer.  God thank you for being faithful.  Help me agree with you in my life and not tell you no.